I am nothing if not fair-minded. So when I discovered a fabric shop in Walthamstow that had to date dipped below my radar, I was ethically obliged to step inside and search out some fabric for a second version of the Sencha blouse. I left with £4-worth of mustard linen and refreshed optimism. I was ready to rumble!

Sadly, Sencha wasn’t. Like most of you, I’m sure, my sewing hours are precious. I don’t particularly want to waste them on something that will ultimately be hurled into the bin. But I’m afraid, this second version of Sencha has to go.

I was attempting a roomier neckline and losing the snappers at the back. I got as far as I could and tried it on. Too tight to wear over jeans or a skirt, and when I tucked it in this happened:

It really isn’t working, is it? Still. It’s so baggy at the back where the tucks end. Sigh. I’m sorry, Colette Patterns – I love you. Sencha – I want to love you. But… Perhaps it’s just me. Perhaps Sencha+Karen’s Body = Hell. Who knows? I just want the Simplicity 2591 pattern to arrive so that I can start on something fresh.

It’s all for the best. As I was sewing, I noticed this on the linen:

You get what you pay for?

I’m not going to let this put me off the new shop. I am definitely going back and was almost hyperventilating with excitement as I was in there. I wasn’t alone. Someone beside me spent £100 on that linen. (Oh dear. I hope she doesn’t discover faded lines in hers.) The shop was heaving with people shopping for fabric. But walk past it, and you would barely notice. A hidden gem. Who’d have thought?

6 Responses to Thank you, and Good Night

I had a really similar experience with Sencha –http://luckymia.blogspot.com/2010/02/we-could-have-been-anything-that-we.html
I did four versions in the end but the red one looked the best – the fourth is now back in bits! I really like the shape at the front but the back was just too huge in my first two versions. I’m tempted to make it again but in view A in a really drapey fabric with an exposed metal zip up the back and lots of back width taken out. I’ll have to give it a while though because it was a bit demoralising to sew something that simple that just doesn’t work!

Hi there. I just made a different (vintage) back-buttoning pattern and it does a similar “pouching” thing above the waist. When I look at the pattern illustration I can see that this is part of the style – like a 1940’s version of the bat-wing without the wing! I think the key to making it work is to ensure the bit that fits the waist / upper hip doesn’t sit too high, i.e. has enough ease, otherwise you get that upward slide of fabric on top of the already baggy shape and it is all too much, especially with a higher than normal neckline. And it has to be really soft fabric, otherwise you are doomed.
I hope to finish my blouse tonight and blog it tomorrow, if you are interested.
P.S. I used to live in Walthamstow, off Wood Street. You are making me all nostalgic with your talk of fabric shops and the market!